User is looking for a travel card that fits their needs without high annual fees, suggesting a feature for personalized travel card recommendations.
We typically travel once or twice a year, mostly domestically although international travel is a goal for down the road. Mixture of flights and road trips, hotels and AirBnbs etc. Since we are planning one for this summer, I've been thinking now would be a good time to grab a new card for a sign-up bonus we can put towards that and book travel through. We have no loyalty to any specific airline or hotel chain, although living near an AA and Southwest hub (which you can probably guess what that is) means we lean towards them. I have quite a few cards that I'll list below in the template. My wife largely doesn't have the patience for all of this, so to make it easy for her day to day I've told her to use our Costco card for gas (mainly at Costco or Buc-ees), our Savor for the grocery stores and restaurants, and our Double Cash for everything else. I, personally, also mostly dislike annual fees. It's a psychological thing, I don't like feeling at the beginning of the year like I need to spend money just to not lose money before I can even use it as actual rewards. I'm not totally opposed to it if it makes sense, but I'd prefer not. CREDIT PROFILE * \* Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of: * USAA Cashback Rewards AmEx, $7,500, 2016 (my oldest account so kept open for credit score purposes, not actively used) * USAA Rate Advantage Visa, $11,500, 2016 (see above - also nice to have on those very rare occasions I need to carry a balance, nothing on it currently) * Chase Freedom Unlimited, $9,200, 2017 (second oldest account, not actively used) * Chase Slate Edge, $10,000, 2023 (also sparingly used, but the MyChasePlan feature is nice for times I need to split a repayment) * Discover it, $8,000, 2020 (rotating categories card, mainly used by me since I can keep up with them - I don't use it terribly often but it's an old friend and I like the retro 1980's card design) * Capital One Savor, $12,000, 2022 * Citi Double Cash, $8,500, 2021 (was converted from another card more recently than that) * Citi Costco Anywhere, $6,000, 2024 * Citi Simplicity, $10,500, 2025 (being used to completely pay off some medical debt at 0% over the intro period) * PayPal Cashback Mastercard, $12,000, 2023 (was my original 2% card until they nerfed it to 1.5%, now mostly not used) * \* Oldest credit card account age with you as primary name on the account: 11 years, 7 months * \* Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 6 months: 1 * \* Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 12 months: 1 * \* Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 24 months: 1 * \* Annual income $: *$124,000* CATEGORIES * \* OK with category-specific cards?: *Yes lmao. But see above about wife.* * \* OK with rotating category cards?: *Already have, not interested in another.* * \* Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below. Only include what you can pay by credit card. * \* Dining $: *$500* * \* Groceries $: *$600-650 at HEB/elsewhere, $100-$150 at Costco* * \* Gas $: *$180, mostly at Costco* * \* Travel $: *$200* * \* Any other significant, regular credit card spend you didn't include above?: *Nearly all spending besides rent and car insurance is done on the cards, with statement balances paid every month.* * \* Can you pay rent by credit card? If yes, list rent amount and if there's a fee for paying by credit card: *No* MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS * \* Current member of Costco or Sam's Club? *Costco* * \* Currently paying $13.99/month or more for Disney Bundle (Disney+ / Hulu / EPSN+) or other Hulu services? *Hulu* PURPOSE * \* What's the purpose of your next card (choose ONE)?: *Travel rewards. See blurb.* * \* Do you have any cards you've been looking at? *Citi Strata, maybe US Bank Altitude*